That’s… a scary thought.

I have nothing to prove that I was pushed and there’s no way I’ll worry Aunt and Uncle when I’m not sure myself.

Sniffling, I smile. “I think I tripped.”

“What were you even doing near a pool?” Aunt asks. “You avoid them like the plague.”

“Blair,” Uncle gives her a knowing look.

“What? She wouldn’t go near a pool out of her own will.” She narrows her eyes. “Did Aiden make you do it?”

My heart squeezes into itself at the mention of his name, but I shake my head.

“He was in practice…” I trail off as a crazy thought barges into my mind.

Was he in practice?

He’s the ace striker and can ditch anytime. He could’ve been at the pool.

My lips tremble.

He couldn’t have been the one who pushed me, right?

I inwardly hit myself. I need to stop making him the saint he’ll never be.

The facts are: Aiden King is capable of drowning me.

After all, he’s the only one at RES who wants to destroy me.

“Stop jumping to conclusions, Blair,” Uncle tells Aunt.

“I’m just trying to find out what happened. She wouldn’t just go to the pool willingly.”

She’s right. I wouldn’t.

But I found myself in the pool area, anyway. No one took me by the hand and led me there, I went by my own feet.

What the hell was my subconscious trying to tell me at the time?

A knock sounds on the door and the three of us perk up.

“Come in,” Uncle says.

I wipe my eyes as a boy dressed in RES’s uniform walks into the hospital room. He appears old enough to be a senior, but I’ve never seen him before.

He’s not the forgettable type either.

He’s tall with broad shoulders and piercing hazel eyes that appear a bit familiar.

His light hair is cut short, almost like a military cut.

It’s as if we’ve met before, but not quite.

“Oh, Knox.” Aunt stands with a bright smile. “Come over.”

Knox? Come over?

I throw a questioning glance between them.

“Hon.” Aunt’s gaze slides from me to the new boy. “Knox is the one who got you out of the pool and called an ambulance. If he didn’t do first aid, you might’ve not been able to breathe.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.” He smiles and his eyes close with the motion.

That’s surprisingly charming.

“Oh,” I say. “I don’t have the appropriate words to thank you.”

“You just did.” He smiles again. “What a way to start in Royal Elite, right?”

“Start?” I ask.

“I just transferred to RES. Today was my first day.”

That explains why I’ve never seen him before.

The door opens again and my breathing catches in my throat.

Aiden strides inside followed by Kim.

My lips tremble as I take him from head to toe. His uniform appears meticulous — aside from the missing tie, as usual. His inky black hair is tousled and the metal of his eyes appears neutral like he’s out for a stroll.

But then again, that’s Aiden; Irresistible as a god and dangerous as a monster.

And the sad part is that I knew it all along.

Just because I refused to hear common sense or to look behind the façade doesn’t mean I was tricked.

Scratch that. I tricked myself into believing that Aiden can be redeemed.

Devils can’t be redeemed.

Devils can only crash and burn.

He said he’ll destroy me, and he did.

It’s time I destroy him back.

I smile at everyone. “Can I talk to Aiden alone?”

Once I’m done, there won’t be anything left of him just like nothing is left of me.

There’s always been darkness inside me.

I fought it.

I denied it.

The time has come to embrace it.

After all, it takes a monster to destroy a monster.

4

Aiden

On her way out, Reed’s quizzical gaze bounces between me and Elsa like a ping pong ball.

I tune her out.

I tune everyone out except for Elsa.

And the new boy. Elsa’s saviour.

Her knight in shining fucking armour.

What’s the easiest way to break a knight and crush him to pieces?

Actually, I’ll use the hardest way to burn him and watch as he turns to ashes.

He gives Elsa one last sickeningly sweet smile on his way to the door.

My head tilts to the side, studying his body language and searching for a tell — or a weakness.

He’s too put together, but I’ll find something.

I always do.

When I face Elsa, my left eye twitches.

Elsa is called Frozen for a reason. She’s not sociable — at all. Even when people talk to her, her smiles are awkward at best. Inside, she’s wishing for them to vanish and stop disturbing her introverted bubble.

But now, she’s smiling.

No.

She’s not only smiling, but she also has that slight twitch in her nose and dreamy fucking eyes.

The smile she gives me after sex.

Or when she sleeps tangled all around me.

That smile is exclusive to me.

Why the fuck is she offering it to the new boy?

I continue staring at his back even after the door closes.

Did I say I’ll watch him burn?

Change of plans. That’s too lenient.

After schooling my expression, I fall on the chair opposite Elsa’s hospital bed.

Her light blonde hair has lost its shining streak and falls on either side of her pale face. It’s even paler than the natural complexion of her skin.

The hospital robe appears three sizes too big, giving nothing away.

She still looks edible.

It’s not about her physical appearance, it’s about her entire aura.

Like a lighthouse in the middle of a dark sea.

A needle punctures her porcelain skin and lodges in her veins. The reddening flesh is like a bloody red rose.

I stare at it longer than needed.

It’s almost similar to the hickeys I left around her scar.

Imperfection in little things.

My gaze slides back to hers.

She’s watching my hands which are hanging nonchalantly over my knees.

I’m tempted to start shit about the new boy, but that’s not for today.

She almost drowned.

She was floating in the pool, and I wasn’t there.

The thought that I could’ve lost her after I’ve finally had her brings a gloomy feeling.

Like the one I felt when Alicia was gone.

If it weren’t for the new boy, Elsa wouldn’t be sitting here.

Hmm. Maybe I won’t torture the new boy for long before crushing him to pieces.

Elsa’s electric blue eyes focus back on my face. Only there’s nothing electric about them.

They’re dark and dead like the bottom of the ocean.

She’s looking at me, but she’s not seeing me. It’s like she’s lost in a world of her own making and no one is allowed inside.

Fuck that.

She doesn’t get to hide from me. Not now.

“What happened?” I ask.